Today we visited Santa Cruz Island. We spent the day exploring and searching for giant tortoises. In the early morning, we visited the giant tortoise rearing center. We saw the baby giants and learned about the conservation efforts in the archipelago by the Galapagos National Park and The Charles Darwin Foundation. We walked to the fish market in Puerto Ayora and were able to explore part of the town; afterwards, we went to the highlands to experience the process of making sugar and moonshine from sugarcane on a local family’s farm. The last part of our day was walking amongst the giants in their natural habitat. It was definitely an outstanding day.
5/29/2025
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National Geographic Gemini
Genovesa Island
Genovesa is considered one of the Galapagos crown jewels, and today it was showing off all of its splendor. Immediately after breakfast we put on our sturdy shoes and set out to explore Prince Philip’s Steps. This area is known for opportunities to observe not only large colonies of nesting Nazca and red-footed boobies, but maybe, just maybe, the short-eared owl which exhibits diurnal behavior on this island. After this walk we got ready for a dip in the Pacific Ocean and snorkeling along the inner coast of this caldera. The afternoon was equally amazing as we disembarked to explore Darwin Bay, along a short and easy trail that was packed with wildlife. Here we observed not only nesting frigatebirds, red-footed boobies, and Nazca boobies, but also a few yellow-crowned night herons. It was another incredible afternoon in the Galapagos Islands.
